


The Snow Queen

by darklips_paleface



Series: Nygmobblepot Week 2019 [6]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Day 6, Hans Christian Anderson, M/M, Nygmobs week 2019, Snow Queen - Freeform, fairytale, fairytale AU, my boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 01:49:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18273332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darklips_paleface/pseuds/darklips_paleface
Summary: Based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.





	1. First Story

**Author's Note:**

> So this one’s another multi chapter, but at least my outlines been prewritten for me (thanks hans). Honestly there was like a made for TV movie of this fairytale that me and my sisters were obsessed with as kids and that’s the whole reason I’m doing it. This first chapter is literally the preface he wrote for the story and rewriting it seemed a weird choice, but it does matter if u don’t know the story so like yeah.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story the First, which describes a Looking-Glass and the Broken Fragments

     “YOU must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin; he was one of the very worst, for he was a real demon. One day, when he was in a merry mood, he made a looking-glass which had the power of making everything good or beautiful that was reflected in it almost shrink to nothing, while everything that was worthless and bad looked increased in size and worse than ever. The most lovely landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the people became hideous, and looked as if they stood on their heads and had no bodies. Their countenances were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread over the whole of the nose and mouth. The demon said this was very amusing. When a good or pious thought passed through the mind of any one it was misrepresented in the glass; and then how the demon laughed at his cunning invention. All who went to the demon’s school—for he kept a school—talked everywhere of the wonders they had seen, and declared that people could now, for the first time, see what the world and mankind were really like. They carried the glass about everywhere, till at last there was not a land nor a people who had not been looked at through this distorted mirror. They wanted even to fly with it up to heaven to see the angels, but the higher they flew the more slippery the glass became, and they could scarcely hold it, till at last it slipped from their hands, fell to the earth, and was broken into millions of pieces. But now the looking-glass caused more unhappiness than ever, for some of the fragments were not so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about the world into every country. When one of these tiny atoms flew into a person’s eye, it stuck there unknown to him, and from that moment he saw everything through a distorted medium, or could see only the worst side of what he looked at, for even the smallest fragment retained the same power which had belonged to the whole mirror. Some few persons even got a fragment of the looking-glass in their hearts, and this was very terrible, for their hearts became cold like a lump of ice. A few of the pieces were so large that they could be used as window-panes; it would have been a sad thing to look at our friends through them. Other pieces were made into spectacles; this was dreadful for those who wore them, for they could see nothing either rightly or justly. At all this the wicked demon laughed till his sides shook—it tickled him so to see the mischief he had done. There were still a number of these little fragments of glass floating about in the air, and now you shall hear what happened with one of them.“ -Hans Christian Andersen


	2. Second Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two little boys

     Once upon a time, in a tiny village, lived two tiny families, in neighboring tiny houses. The two families were almost identical- a mother, a father, and one son. However, in one house the family filling it was full of love and warmth. The other, tragically, held nothing but coldness and apathy. The two families were equally poor, unable to afford even the barest garden. Together, though, they could afford a simple rose bush. The families agreed to share that one bloom, in hopes to add a brightness to their dreary town. It was grown in the shared space between the two houses, where between two windows lay a single flower box. 

 

     These two windows lead to the rooms inhabited by the two sons. One, born from the house of love, was born prematurely which lead to a deteriorated health and frail bones. At a young age, he suffered a terrible accident leaving him with a permanent limp. This boy was called Oswald. The other boy was born into a sad and empty home, his parents hated no one in the world so much as eachother- except, of course, their son Edward. Though both boys had their own tragedies, they were unified by their rose bush. In the spring time they would lean as far as they could out of their windows to touch the buds, shyly brushing finger tips. Summer would come and with it magnificent blooms- the boys would lean their heads out and poor their deepest secrets into the flower beds and one another’s ears. Winter was devastating, but the clever boys would heat up pennies on the stove to hold to the glass of their individual windows- it would melt a perfect circle out of the frost covering the panes, through which they could peer out at each other. 

 

     Like the plant they shared, the boys grew up entwined in each other. When it was seasonable, Ed would help Os to the crick down the path from their houses, and together they would play for hours. Oswald was forever angry at Ed for refusing to play very rough with him- out of fear for his health- and often goaded Edward into following him down treacherous forest paths to find adventures deep in the woods. 

 

     It was on one of these such days, when Oswald lead Ed just a bit too deep into the brush, that the boys came upon a spectacular sight. It was late fall, and the weather was just on the verge of shifting into winter, the first snow lightly falling from the sky. As the flakes fell, a few began to cluster, and that cluster grew to form a shape. It was the figure of a woman, all pale ice and sharp edges. She was far ahead, seeming to not notice the boys. In terror, the boys ran all the way home.

 

     For she was not some great beauty, but rather closer to the monsters that haunted the nightmares of young folk. Edward, with his incredible mind, remembered every horrid detail. Her face was half-ice, half-human; the shards of it were like glass cutting through her features. She was large, larger than either of the boys’ homes, and wore tatters of white cloth around her person. At her base- and it was a base, rather than legs- she was made mostly of the grimy kind of slush that gathers by roadsides. She seemed to travel on the wind like a snowflake might, and though they didn’t stay long, Ed was able to observe some of her work. She was there to bring winter; in all of its cold, jagged, splendor. She guided the snowflakes and laid down the ice, blowing cold wind from deep within her icy lungs.

 

     Once the boys had managed to get back to their little homes, Oswald insisted they ask his mother about what they had seen. Gertrude Kapelput was a woman from another world, at times it even seemed she was from another century. Her voice was thick with an accent that neither Oswald nor his father spoke with, and her head was full of magiks and lore. It was for this reason the boys believed they could trust her with their tale, without fear of her dismissing them as “silly, imaginative boys”. 

 

     “Mama! We saw an ice witch today in the Forest! She was hideous and horrible!” Oswald said, bounding through the front door into the kitchen.

 

     “Ah! You saw what? Come here, come, come. That was no witch you boys saw; but the snow queen herself.” Gertrude said, collecting the boys to sit with her by the small fire going in their den.

 

     “Queen? Not a queen, mama, she was not beautiful but  _ horrible.”  _

 

      Gertrude  _ tsked  _ her son gently, “Oswald, you should not speak of one so powerful like this! She is the bringer of winter, the ruler of the frost! She will determine what crops outlive the cold months, whether we live or die hungry!”

 

      “Mama she is in the woods! Surely she cannot hear me!”

 

     Gertrude’s face became gravely serious, “Never take your chances with magic, Oswald. We are too tiny and weak to be any match for her. There is only one force she fears in his world-“

 

     “Heat?” Edward guessed, eternally attempting to solve any problems or riddles before the answers were spoiled for him.

 

     “No no, the cold and the heat- they are sisters. They do not fight, for they know neither will win. No- the only force that the elements fear, for they know they cannot beat it, is love. There is nothing in this world that can stop a love that is pure and true. But she will do you no harm now, you cannot give her what she desires most! Now go, play, be young a little longer.” With that, she shooed the young boys off with a smile, hoping they would leave such dark tales behind for another time. 

 

————————————————-

     Winter became spring, spring summer, and one over the other the seasons toppled. 

 

     Edward grew older and smarter, and Oswald grew older and more spirited. Both boys found themselves as outsiders amongst their peers. This suited them just fine, as they knew that, regardless; they would always have each other.

 

     One particularly foul day, Oswald became the center of some unpleasant attention. A group of boys too mean and too stupid to ever make anything of themselves were taunting Oswald for his limp. Just as Edward arrived on the scene, one of them made the mistake of pushing little Oswald over.

 

     No one had ever been scared of Edward- he was scrawny and meek. However, at the sight of his only friend crying in the dirt, Edward became more beast than man. He screamed as he lunged at the aggressor- using the few moments of shocked stupor from the bully to gain the upperhand. He had to be removed from the boy by his school teacher, and though he had only gotten a few blows in and wound up more hurt himself, all in attendance knew from that day on: Edward and Oswald were not to be picked on.

 

     As Edward helped Oswald up, wiping a few stray tears from his cheeks, Oswald asked, “Why did you do that, Ed? He’s hurt you, and had the fight not stopped, it could have ended even worse for you. All he did was push me a little.”

 

     Ed smiled at his companion, “I don’t care how small the offense, I will  _ never  _ let anyone hurt you again. Oswald- I would do anything for you.” 

 

     And Oswald knew with complete certainty that Edward meant it with every fiber of his being. 

 

     School crept slowly by, Edward’s grades made for a promising future and Oswald managed to scrape through as well, smarter than Ed in more important areas of life. Years passed like this; two young boys against the world. Eventually they grew into gentlemen, the perfect marrying age, and were one day discussing their futures over their shared rose bush.

 

     “I should like to enter the sciences, Os. I believe I can do a great deal of good for humanity.”

 

     “Of course you will, Eddie! You’re the brightest man I know!” Oswald truly meant it, Ed was not just clever, but kind; he could do great things with a mind like that.

 

     “Ed…” Oswald began, nervous to broach the topic he had been dying to talk about all day, “what about…  _ other  _ parts of our future? Like, perhaps, marriage?” Oswald had seen Edward fawn over a girl in their class when they had been younger, but Kristen has married already, and Edward didn’t seem to mind too much.

 

    “Marriage? Oswald, I should think, well,  _ hope,  _ that that much was obvious! That is, that my intentions…” he trailed off, looking quite confused at his own mouth for not quite conveying his ideas properly. Oswald found it adorable. 

 

     “Edward, are you saying what I think you’re saying? Or, rather,  _ asking  _ what I think-“

 

     Before Oswald could finish his sentence, a harsh wind struck them both. It did nothing to deter the warmth in Oswald’s heart at what he hoped Edward was going to say. 

 

     However, Oswald was not the only one affected. A piercing pain struck Edward’s right eye, and another pang hit deep in his heart. For it was not just any wind; but a wind that carried two small pieces of that devil’s mirror. The bit in his chest froze Edward’s heart solid as ice, and that which flew into his eye made his vision like the mirror: all good things appeared deformed and ugly, and the most horrible things seemed lovely and perfect. 

 

     “Ah! What on earth-“

 

     “Edward? Are you alright?” He certainly didn’t seem it, as the moment he looked upon Oswald his face became twisted and sour.

 

     “No! How could I be, sitting here with  _ you?  _ Talking over this wilted, dying,  _ disgusting  _ little thing?!” Ed gestured to the rose bush, and it felt like a slap to Oswald’s face.

 

     “Our roses? Edward you  _ love  _ that plant, you have since we were children, I don’t understand-“

 

     “Oh, of course you wouldn’t, idiot that you are!” Oswald gaped. Never had he heard Edward speak like this! Well, never to  _ him  _ at least, “God, why am I even talking to you? You’ve been holding me back for years, Oswald, it’s time I finally left you behind. For good.” 

 

     Edward shut his tiny window, but Oswald could see him through the glass, watched as he grabbed his coat. Something was wrong, Oswald knew it. This wasn’t  _ his _ Ed, and he wasn’t going to let him run off before Os could figure out what had happened. He rushed out his own door- coat and shoes be damned- to stop him.

 

     Edward looked to be in a rush, hurriedly strolling away from his house. When he refused to stop after Oswald called his name, Os resorted to grabbing Ed by the arm and spinning him around.

 

     “Edward what is  _ wrong  _ with you? We were having a perfectly normal discussion-“

 

     Ed interrupted him with a scoff, “ _ Normal?  _ That’s not what I would call you forcing marriage on me. Can’t you see how that would hold me back? Face it, I’m better than you Oswald- and you’re so scared that I’ll leave you- poor, useless you- That you’re willing to whore yourself out to keep me.”

 

     The hurt was like a physical blow, a knife wound or gunshot deep in Oswald’s gut. He sputtered, trying desperately to respond for a moment as Ed stood there, coldly smirking at him. He barely even noticed the tears spilling freely from his own eyes.

 

     “Ed… you don’t mean that. You can’t. I love you Edward, and you love me. I know it. This isn’t you!”

 

     Edward laughed at him, a dull and hollow sound, “How could I love someone like you? You’re a child, Oswald, who throws a temper tantrum whenever he doesn’t get what he wants. When whatever he wants,” his words were oozing some gross, suggestive connotation that made Oswald feel ill, “doesn’t want him back. I. Don’t. Love. You.” His phrasing left no room for comment or debate, and with that he turned on his heel and left Oswald, cold and alone.

 

     Oswald could do nothing more than crumple in on himself, sobbing openly on the street before his house without a care for who may be around to see. Why should he care who saw, anyways? His world had just walked away from him, not once turning back, plunging him into a cold, black darkness of sorrow. 

 

—————————————————

     Edward walked for miles with no end destination in mind. He only knew he needed to be far, far away from his home. Home! He shuddered even thinking of that tiny, dusty, drab little place. Home was memories of Oswald- all of it, every last memory,  _ Oswald!  _ He was like a disease, a cancer consuming any joy Ed might’ve had in life. 

 

     He hated him. He couldn’t  _ believe  _ he’d been so blind for so long! How had he never seen him for the grotesque, selfish little brat he was? And he was about to ask for his hand! Edward was lucky this revelation had hit him when it did, before he could be trapped with that pathetic little man for the rest of his life. 

 

     No, he had  _ much _ bigger plans for himself. He was going to be rich, famous, everything he’d ever secretly hoped! And he would crush anyone who dared stand in his way. 

 

     At some point, he’d lost track of where he was heading, and realized he’d stumbled upon the same grove he’d discovered with Oswald when they were children. Suddenly, the temperature began to drop, and small flecks of snow began to fall from the sky above.

 

_      Odd,  _ Ed thought,  _ it’s rather early for snow, we’ve only just finished the summer months. _

 

     But before Ed could ponder much more, she appeared to him.

 

     It was both exactly like he’d remembered, and different in every way. She arrived on the swirling snowflakes, a gust of frost personified. But rather than the gnarled, icy woman he’d seen as a boy- here stood the most beautiful thing Edward had ever laid eyes on.

 

     Her skin was pale white- inhumanly so- and blended into the pure snow gown she wore. Her hair was like spin sugar; fine and pure white as linen. Every feature seemed to be a cool, crisp white, in fact- except for her piercing blue eyes and ruby red lips. Distantly, Edward thought that in some ways her appearance was slightly similar to an old classmate of his- but the comparison was hardly fair. No person could ever, in any fair way, be compared to this great beauty before him. She was, in all ways, the height of perfection. All others before her disappaited from Edward’s mind; a fog finally clearing. Momentarily, Ed lost his breath- choked out of him from the shockingly cold air that now surrounded him.

 

     “Dropping down from the sky, more beautiful than rain, there are no two pieces that ever look the same. What am I?” She spoke like the wind- all air and light touches. It sent a shiver down Ed’s spine that he was certain was not _just_ due to the inclimate temperature shift that’d begun the moment she arrived. 

 

     “Snow. You’re… you’re her. The Snow Queen.” Her smile was icy and inviting, and Edward felt his cold heart beat double time for her. 

 

     “Correct. My, you are clever, aren’t you? Yes. I think you’ll do rather nicely.” She nodded to herself, and behind her the snow that had begun falling in fat flakes started to clump together to form a shape. A carriage built itself up behind her- clearly her own doing- and the Snow Queen made her way towards it. “Well, aren’t you coming, Edward?” 

 

     Ed didn’t even pause long enough to ponder at how she knew his name, wordlessly he followed her into her carriage. And, just as quickly as she’d arrived, they took off into the cold night together. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys? I wanna fuck Snow Queen!Isabella


End file.
